How tired are you of the negativity, outright lies and blatant disregard for common sense we hear from the media?

I know.

Silly question.

It’s like whenever there’s a disaster of any kind in the world: We don’t want to watch, but we do. Sometimes we get so addicted to the details – even though the reporters are merely repeating what was already said 20 minutes earlier – that we find ourselves almost immovable in front of our screen.

If what we are hearing is an affront to our intelligence and common decency we may decide to lash out in protest, often posting or spreading reports and details that we’ve not properly vetted ourselves. This is easy to do, particularly if the information we discover and disseminate agrees with our viewpoint or political ideology.

Later, however, we may find out the evidence we neglected to personally research turns out to be fabricated or satirical, making us look rather pathetic while at the same time giving undue credence to a person or cause not worthy of such trust.

WHAT TO DO?!?

Perhaps it’s time our relatively young country takes some sage advice from the other side of the pond. In her 2015 Christmas message, England’s Queen Elizabeth reminded us,

It is said that it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t be uninformed or put our heads in the sand because our global issues are complex. What we can do is learn what we need to know; then, exercise our personal power to honestly recognize when it’s time to curb our appetite for a diet we know will not just leave us unsatisfied, but also annoyed, more stressed out and with a sense of dread.

As much as we might like to see someone or some organization get what we suppose to be their just desserts, our time would be better spent in improving our own lives, the lives of those we love and furthering peace and understand on the planet.